Comparison of blood protein levels between diabetic and non diabetic patients with retinopathy

To compare serum protein levels between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with retinopathy. Comparative study. Ziauddin Medical University and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan, from 2000 to 2002. Sixty patients were selected. Among them, 21 were diabetic patients without any clinical evidence of chronic diabetic complications; 20 were diabetic patients with retinopathy and 19 were non-diabetic patients with retinopathy. Twenty-one apparently normal, age, gender and weight-matched control subjects were also inducted. All these patients were selected on clinical grounds. Blood values, fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, serum fructosamine, glycosylated plasma protein, hexosamine, sialic acid and total serum proteins were determined and compared. Fasting plasma glucose was high in all diabetic patients and correlated significantly with glycosylated hemoglobin, glycosylated plasma proteins and serum fructosamine concentrations. Fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, glycosylated plasma proteins, serum fructosamine, sialic acid, hexosamine and total serum protein were increased in diabetic patients with retinopathy and diabetic patients without any complications. These values were not different in diabetic patients with retinopathy and diabetic patients without chronic complications as compared with control subjects. Alpha-1 and alpha-2 globulins were significantly increased in diabetic patients with retinopathy, diabetic patients without complications and non-diabetic patients with retinopathy as compared with control subjects. Beta globulin was significantly increased in diabetic patients with retinopathy as compared with nondiabetic patients with retinopathy, diabetic patients without complication and control subjects. Gamma globulin was significantly decreased in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with retinopathy. Fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, glycosylated plasma proteins, serum fructosamine, sialic acid, hexosamine and total serum protein were increased in diabetic patients with and without complications but these parameters remained within normal limits in non-diabetic patients with retinopathy. The decrease in gamma globulins may be associated with a retinopathy

Adiponectin! obesity and coronary artery disease

Plasma adiponectin rapidly accumulates in the subendothelial space of the injured human artery. Plasma concentrations of adiponectin are reduced in the setting of obesity in patient with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and in patients with coronary artery diseas [CAD] Several studies have been carried out on animals and recently in humans also to it vestigate the role of adiponectin in obesity and insulin resistance leading to coronary artery disease

Role of nicotine, cotinine and thiocyanate in cigarette smoking [active and passive]

The studies have been continuously carried out on serum nicotine, cotinine and thiocyanate but Pakistan is still deficient of such studies. Tobacco use is very common in Pakistan and about 34% of men and 12.5% of women use some form of tobacco on a regular basis. In addition to cigarettes, tobacco is smoked in unique local ways, which include "Bidi" [tobacco rolled in dryes] and huqqa [Hubble-Bubble]. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4000 chemicals including 43 that are known to cause cancer. Active smoking can cause respiratory disorders, cardiovascular hazards, cerebral and peripheral vascular diseases and cancers. Passive smoking also increases risk for higher and lower respiratory tract illness, ischemic heart diseases and lung cancer. The hazards of passive smoking have yet to be clearly understood so biochemical measurements of appropriate markers are particularly valuable in assessing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke because individuals may differ in their awareness of the extent and duration of such exposures. Markers of exposure to cigarette smoke include thiocyanate ions, nicotine and cotinine, which is a primary metabolite of nicotine. Nicotine, the most tobacco specific component of cigarette smoke responsible for tobacco addiction and can be measured in both active and passive smokers. At present, cotinine is generally regarded as the best marker for monitoring tobacco exposure in either actively or passively exposed individuals. Thiocyanate is a major metabolic product of hydrocyanic acid. Three fold higher concentration of thiocyanate is found in the sera, urine and saliva of smokers as compared to non-smokers; because of cyanide provided by cigarette smoke